Telematics units within mobile vehicles provide subscribers with connectivity to a telematics service provider (TSP). The TSP provides subscribers with an array of services ranging from emergency call handling and stolen vehicle recovery to diagnostics monitoring, global navigation system aided position identification, map services, and turn-by-turn navigation assistance. Telematics units are often provisioned and activated at a point of sale when a subscriber purchases a telematics-equipped vehicle. Upon activation, the telematics unit can be utilized to provide a subscriber with telematics services such as those described herein.
Telematics services often involve the use of a network access device (NAD), such as an embedded cell phone module, which is part of a vehicle communications platform (VCP) of the telematics unit. The VCP may be configured to communicate over various types of networks, such as GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) or LTE (long-term evolution) networks, and may utilize a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or other type of identification card, such as a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC), to provide wireless services via a particular wireless carrier.
However, in conventional systems, changing a wireless carrier for a wireless communication device typically requires providing a customer with a new SIM card. Telematics units and other machine-to-machine (M2M) applications often did not support changing carriers, or would require SIM cards to be mounted in a position where they are physically removable. Automotive telematics units which use embedded SIMs, for example those that are physically soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB) in the VCP or the NAD, would not be able to change carriers except through over-the-air (OTA) re-flashing.
OTA re-flashing comes with its own set of drawbacks. OTA re-flashing requires that the device have a valid account and be in coverage and able to connect to the cellular network, and there are a variety of reasons why a wireless communications device might not be able to perform an OTA re-flashing operation. For example, the device's subscription may have changed and a previous carrier no longer recognizes the device, or errors in the carrier's network remove the device from its database, or the device may be physically located in an area not covered by the carrier.
The above body of information is provided for the convenience of the reader. The foregoing is not an attempt to review or catalog the prior art.